The war with Britain cut off the supply of Bibles to the American colonies with the result that Congress instructed its Committee of Commerce to import 20,000 Bibles from “Scotland, Holland, or elsewhere.” On January 21, 1781, Philadelphia printer Robert Aitken (1734–1802) petitioned Congress to officially sanction a publication of the Old and New Testament that he was preparing at his own expense. Congress passed a resolution endorsing Aitken’s Bible.
The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments: Newly translated out of the Original Tongues. . . . Philadelphia: Robert Aitken, 1782. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress
Call number: BS185 1782 .P5
14 of 16
